Today Nest announced they have refined the design of their Learning Thermostat with a new version that is 20% thinner. The 2nd generation Nest Learning Thermostat is compatible with 95% of low voltage heating and cooling systems, including 2nd stage cooling, 3rd stage heating, dual fuel, emergency heat, and whole-home humidifiers and dehumidifiers - which means Nest now works with almost all heating and cooling systems in the US and Canada.

The new Nest is available for pre-order on nest.com/store today for $249. Nests will start shipping on October 15th. If you want to pick up an original Nest, they have slashed the price to $229 while supplies last.

Nest also announced that they are pushing out a new software update to the original Nest. The new software Version 3.0 includes a ton of new features that enhance the Nest experience and save you money.

Highlights of Version 3.0 include:

System Match - Most thermostats are designed exclusively for conventional forced air systems (systems that blow air out of vents). The trouble is not everyone has a conventional system. With System Match, Nest uses different algorithms and activates custom features depending on your system. And it won’t just give you controls that are better tailored for your home; System Match will make your entire heating and cooling system work better. More about System Match.

Enhanced Auto-Away - Now Auto-Away is even better at understanding if you’re home or not. When it’s sure you’re gone, Auto-Away can now turn on as quickly as a half hour after you leave the house. And if Nest doesn’t detect any activity for a while but knows you’re usually home at this time, it’ll wait longer before activating Auto-Away. More about Auto-Away.

Auto-Schedule in Heat – Cool mode - Homes with both heating and cooling can automatically switch between the two in a mode we call Heat – Cool (previously known as Range). Now Nest can use Auto-Schedule to learn what temperatures you like when you’re in Heat – Cool, just as it would if you were only heating or only cooling your home. More about Heat – Cool.

New languages -Hola and bonjour, everyone. The Nest thermostat, Web app and Mobile app now speak Spanish and French – just go to Settings and choose Language. And, as always, you can switch Nest to Celsius in Settings as well.

Finally, Nest also reports that their Android app has been upgraded to work on Android tablets, including the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire. The updated app includes a new Energy History report with more detailed info about how and where temperatures were set, the At a Glance screen has been upgraded, you can now lock Nest remotely and switch the apps between English, Spanish or French.

I purchased a Nest at the beginning of the summer to try and beat the Texas heat, and I’m enjoying it just as much as when I first reviewed it. My wife loves the convenience, it controls our temperature automatically, and it saves us money.

If you are looking for a Christmas gift for your parents, I would highly recommend the Nest Learning Thermostat.

Taylor is the founder of Android and Me. He resides in Dallas and carries the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and HTC One as his daily devices. Ask him a question on Twitter or Google+ and he is likely to respond. | Ethics statement

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I really like the concept, but the price point is a little too high at the moment for me to go grab one.

As I think some other people have pointed out, it would maybe be a little more popular if it was more customizable; not sure if this update includes more customizing features or not.

I think these kind of devices are great, but they’re really going to have trouble competing as standalone products as home automation packages increase in popularity. Right now there are companies like Comcast and Schlage that allow automation of HVAC, locks, security, lights, and various other alarms via X10 or Z Wave; the only caveat being that they generally charge a monthly fee. If it’s a good enough product in its own right, I think they’ll be better off if they allow integration into these type of systems.

Nest may be overrated since the programmable thermostats will work around the same. But most thermostats can’t be controlled via wireless phone unless you pay an arm and a leg and most people never program their thermostat. All I know is that my friend has been using his nest and he loves it and everyone that I read about online loves theirs too. The only complaints I see are from people who have never tried it usually. I can’t wait to get mine.

Of course, if you spent that much on a thermostat, you’d want to justify it by saying how great it is ;)

j/k, but like others, I think the price point is still a little too high for me to personally invest in it. I do look forward to seeing which direction they start to head in on the home automation front. Hopefully, as that expands, the price point will go down and then it’ll be more attractive to me.

I’ve thought about doing that. I’m currently renting a house with forced air heating and a programmable thermostat, but I’ve lived there for 4 years and never once have I programmed it… I just turn it on or off and keep the temperature on “hold”, thoroughly defeating the purpose.

Is there any conversion kit required or anything when replacing an existing programmable thermostat, or is it basically “take the old one off the wall, plug its wires into this one”?

I just bought a home and have been saving up for the original nest. I will be getting one or the other for sure. Can’t wait to try it out. I am waiting now to see what my energy bill will be for the next 2-3 months and see if the nest really works.

First thing, anything is hackable, the question is will someone want to pick your house out of the millions of other houses? Just use a really secure password. Plus an air condition system is not able to get cold enough to freeze your pipes in your house. As long as your not giving out your passwords or telling everyone that you have a nest I wouldn’t worry about it.

@Taylor, tell me more about your experience with the Nest in Texas! I live near Houston, but find it hard to believe this device will save me money over a traditional programmable t-stat that I have, especially in the summer. I assume all the money savings is from detecting when you are gone, right? I turn up my t-stat temp before I leave, so I guess I need to decide whether spending $250 is worth it to have this done automatically for me. Cool concept, just trying to justify it!

I was looking on their site and I don’t think it handles various zones. I think you may need one for every zone since you can name each thermostat a different name. Of course I may be wrong, im sure nest will answer your question. Just go to their site its very interesting.

I was hoping that there would be some adjustment as to when the fan is always on, such as night, as opposed to on and off in the daytime.

I was also hoping for there to be a clock on the screen when it is off, it looks really stupid just being a black blank screen which is over 99.9% of the time. I notice all their pictures show the face displayed with temperature and usually a blue screen, in reality this only happens for seconds per day, and the majority it is just a plain black blank screen.

Is their any mention of the reduced warranty, Generation 1 comes with 5 years as opposed to Generation 2 coming with only 2 years of hardware warranty.

I really like the concept, but the price point is a little too high at the moment for me to go grab one.

As I think some other people have pointed out, it would maybe be a little more popular if it was more customizable; not sure if this update includes more customizing features or not.

I think these kind of devices are great, but they’re really going to have trouble competing as standalone products as home automation packages increase in popularity. Right now there are companies like Comcast and Schlage that allow automation of HVAC, locks, security, lights, and various other alarms via X10 or Z Wave; the only caveat being that they generally charge a monthly fee. If it’s a good enough product in its own right, I think they’ll be better off if they allow integration into these type of systems.

Nest may be overrated since the programmable thermostats will work around the same. But most thermostats can’t be controlled via wireless phone unless you pay an arm and a leg and most people never program their thermostat. All I know is that my friend has been using his nest and he loves it and everyone that I read about online loves theirs too. The only complaints I see are from people who have never tried it usually. I can’t wait to get mine.

Of course, if you spent that much on a thermostat, you’d want to justify it by saying how great it is ;)

j/k, but like others, I think the price point is still a little too high for me to personally invest in it. I do look forward to seeing which direction they start to head in on the home automation front. Hopefully, as that expands, the price point will go down and then it’ll be more attractive to me.

I’ve thought about doing that. I’m currently renting a house with forced air heating and a programmable thermostat, but I’ve lived there for 4 years and never once have I programmed it… I just turn it on or off and keep the temperature on “hold”, thoroughly defeating the purpose.

Is there any conversion kit required or anything when replacing an existing programmable thermostat, or is it basically “take the old one off the wall, plug its wires into this one”?

I just bought a home and have been saving up for the original nest. I will be getting one or the other for sure. Can’t wait to try it out. I am waiting now to see what my energy bill will be for the next 2-3 months and see if the nest really works.

First thing, anything is hackable, the question is will someone want to pick your house out of the millions of other houses? Just use a really secure password. Plus an air condition system is not able to get cold enough to freeze your pipes in your house. As long as your not giving out your passwords or telling everyone that you have a nest I wouldn’t worry about it.

@Taylor, tell me more about your experience with the Nest in Texas! I live near Houston, but find it hard to believe this device will save me money over a traditional programmable t-stat that I have, especially in the summer. I assume all the money savings is from detecting when you are gone, right? I turn up my t-stat temp before I leave, so I guess I need to decide whether spending $250 is worth it to have this done automatically for me. Cool concept, just trying to justify it!

I was looking on their site and I don’t think it handles various zones. I think you may need one for every zone since you can name each thermostat a different name. Of course I may be wrong, im sure nest will answer your question. Just go to their site its very interesting.

I was hoping that there would be some adjustment as to when the fan is always on, such as night, as opposed to on and off in the daytime.

I was also hoping for there to be a clock on the screen when it is off, it looks really stupid just being a black blank screen which is over 99.9% of the time. I notice all their pictures show the face displayed with temperature and usually a blue screen, in reality this only happens for seconds per day, and the majority it is just a plain black blank screen.

Is their any mention of the reduced warranty, Generation 1 comes with 5 years as opposed to Generation 2 coming with only 2 years of hardware warranty.